Composition of matter for waving hair



PatentedOctrlil 937 J v r 2,095,374:

Paul R. Steinbach, CinoinnatigQhio, assignmto! .The Realistic PermanentWaveMachlne Co.", fcincliinati, 0hio,. a corporation otphio No. Drawing. Original application June -9, 1932;

i SerialvNoL616,359,- now 'PatentNo. 2,00 2,9 89.

DividedyandjthiaapplicationSeptember 15, t

is invention relates to the trleatment or hair, .One of such;mixtureajafcoinposltion consisting a andis particularly applicableyto hair. .upon the or potassium sulphite and ammonium, carbonate humanfhead in. givingtlastingi-or: ffper narien in, approximately the; proportions at and wav standthe ike; p a. x 1 9%;. es t ve yrha b e it b dl o ra e wI-Iair isa complexorganic substanceccnsisting satisfactorilyl] largely of keratlnpitself a complex ,material. The molecular weight of potassi'iunflsulphite is material eitherescontainsyor may bereadily 158 .26,. a.nd thatroi ammOriJium QcarbOnate-QGDQ. hydrolyzed. into a substance knownas cystine The reaction, mostsimply stated, between-poms orcystenic,acid,,=probably.to theextentlof 20%. siurn ,ulphitei and" ammonium carbonate is as l0Thei hairialsorapparently.contains rather loosely follows: l "I 10 sulphur to h amount e vu fi- P otauium Ammonium Potassiuni 1- ln-ordertosimpart-alasting or permanent wave sulphite carbonate i=earbonatesulphite a ftothe hair. it is necessarynotgmerelyto arrange V t i. l .i u the hair-jinusome curlved .form into' -wl'iichit .is. ,The above reaction, of course, illustrates the desired to permanently setit; butltoj'modifythe twocomponents as being in equilibrium;

chemical composition so that the natural; reslliwith the proportionspreviously stated,jnamely 1;. jj ency or the hair is either destroyed or suspended, 70% and 30%, it will be seen that potassium inwhole or in part,.. and the hair allowed to sulphite is in excess of that used in thereaction assume a permanent set in the form in which it 1 and that when put into water this mixture is u is e d: v i u u u really the equivalent of the following: 20 {This} has, heretofore, generally been accomt Percent plished by the use of alkalinesolutlons applied to Potasslumsulphite 20.5 the hair, which is then subjected to heat, the come Potassium carbonate 43.3 moner solutions consisting ofammonium hydrox- Ammonium sulphite 36.2

When this mixture is dissolved in water the folhair treated with any of thelabove alkaues is liiovztiaie characteristics of the'materials will be heated, awave or .curlis imparted to it, but the i 1. Potassium sulphite in the presence of water i texture of the hair itself becomes impaired, it i i it becoming, to a considerable extent, deadened and heat hydrolyzes into potassium hydroxide and y a sulphurous acid. The potassium hydroxide is a 30 .ggg gg g i g its (natural relatively'strong base, whilethe sulphurousacid i isarelatively strong acid.. Apparently thealkalies previously used ex- ,1 with heat t i i r 2LPotassium sulphite decomposes tracted a considerable. quantity of the cystenic acid from the hair and-thus caused the change in giving potassium sulphate and potassium sulphide its appearance and texture 3. Potassium sulphite combines with sulphur to 5 u a u i. a form potassium thiosulphate.

i If the hair be subJected to ny strongly alkaline. 4. Potassium carbcnate hydrblyzes m water material the hairis dissolved either in whole or i i 1 giving potassium hydroxide and carbonic acid. i in part. If an alkaline material could be handled 5. I mom sulpmtedecom $88 with both 40 I i o i i wave. Howevenifsuch a material is diluted more than just suflicient, no waveis produced, and in. Agparenuy' if 'fi gfi above. 1 practice it is found that the limitsof dilution F U s t 8 are within so a range as to render this treat The presence of the relatively strong sulphurous 45 mentpmcucany impossibm; acid decreases the effective alkalinity which It is an object of this invention to provide an would Otherwise beiimparted the SQIutionhy improved methodloif and means for imparting a i Potassium hydmxide and a m W a nt 9 wave to the hair which will obviate the dlfilculties Where the solution is eflectlvely substantially 25 ide. while such alkalles as sodium carbonate, 1; borax, and tri-sodium phosphate are used. when previbusly experienced i ftral; Hence thelreaction of the alkali upon the ot r objects wi hereinafter appea,r cystenic acid is reduced well withinsafe bounds. t I have found thatmixtures of: salts, some of u T tree ammonia maytreactwith h cys eine I which may be too strongly alkaline with others acid to produce an ammonium. soap of cystenic a q which alone are tooiweak in their action, can be acid.

used effectively.

The potassium time itseir combines with the 55 sulphur of the hair to form a thiosulphate, this reaction being quite diflerent in its type than that of a base and acid reacting to form a salt. This reaction with the sulphur is very mild in its nature and so does not destroy the hair, but materially assists in imparting a wave to it. The resultant thiosulphate is easily soluble in water, and is readily removed. Moreover, the removal of the sulphur in this manner appears to give much better results than could be obtained by extracting an equivalent quantity of cystenic acid.

The presence of small amounts of potassium sulphide in the water softens the hair, suspending for the time its natural resiliency.

Besides this, odors of the ammonia and sulphur dioxide tend to neutralize each other.

While the exact reactions have not been def-' initely ascertained, it appears that they are at least similar to those above described, and it has been found by experiment that with the materials in the proportions stated, optimum results are obtained. It is believed that this indicates that with the 'materials described and under the conditions present during waving, there is suillcient sulphurous acid to perform two functions, (1) that 01' controlling the alkaline action of'the potassium" and ammonium, and (2) that of gently extracting the sulphur.

In practice, a mixture is made of crystalline potassium sulphite and ammonium carbonate, these materials being much more conveniently handled, packed, shipped, and stored in the dry form than as solutions. To this, it is only necessary to add water when the material is to be used. Conveniently suflicient material for'one head of hair only is packed in a bottle or vial, so that the solution for each patron is fresh and sanitary.

This application is a division of my copending application Serial Number 616,359, Pat. No. 2,002,989 flied June 9, 1932, for Method of waving hair.

While I have described my invention in some particularity, many other embodiments will readily occur to those skilled in this art. and I do not, therefore, limit myself to the precise details described, but claim as my invention all embodiments, variations and modifications coming within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A composition of matter for hair waving consisting of solid ammonium carbonate and solid potassium sulphite, the potassium sulphite being between and 30% by weight in excess of the molecular equivalent of said ammonium carbonate. I

2. A composition or matter for hair waving comprising substantially 70% by weight dry, solid potassium sulphiteand 30% by weight dry, solid ammonium carbonate.

3. A- composition of matter for hair waving comprising one part by weight crystalline ammonium carbonate and more than two parts by weight potassium sulphite.

4. A composition oi. matter for production of a hair waving solution including potassium sulphite and ammonium carbonate in such proportions that in solution the mixture is eflectively substantially neutral.

5. A composition of matter for production of a hair waving solution including a salt of sulphurous acid, and 'a salt of a weaker acid in such proportions that in solution the mixture is effectively substantially neutral.

PAUL R. STEIN'BACH. 

